The Menéndez brothers get the monster treatment.
The second installment in Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s monster anthology series – which premiered on Netflix on Thursday, September 19 – examines the spectacular case that took America by storm. Before OJ Simpson’s highway chase sparked national headlines, there were Lyle and Erik Menéndez. The duo murdered their parents, José (a highly successful record executive) and Kitty Menéndez, in August 1989.
Lyle and Erik shot their mother Kitty ten times and José six times. The brothers stayed home, called 911 and protested their innocence. They said they were in a movie theater and saw Batman when the crime happened. At first, police officers believed the brothers. The idea that Lyle (21) and Erik (18), two young men from a privileged family, had killed their parents seemed implausible.
But as the case progressed, the brothers were eventually arrested and, after two trials, convicted of premeditated murder and imprisoned. Were Lyle and Erik after their family’s fortune or was this a reaction to a lifetime of abuse? The new Netflix series takes a closer look at the case.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story follows the immense success of Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (which has been viewed for over a billion hours). The second true-crime-inspired installment aims to revisit the crime in question, the abuse allegations that motivated the murder, and the conviction.
Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny lead the cast as José and Kitty Menéndez. Nicholas Alexander Chavez plays Lyle and Cooper Koch is Erik.
As we approach the premiere of the eight-episode season, let’s take a look at the real-life horror that inspired Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story.
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The murders of José and Kitty Menéndez
José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menéndez, as CBS News reported, were “shot multiple times at close range with a shotgun while in the living room of their Beverly Hills mansion.” The weapons of choice were two 12-gauge shotguns.
Shortly thereafter, her eldest son Lyle called 911 and screamed, “Someone killed my parents.”
The brothers claimed they found their parents’ bodies when they returned home from the movies. Police initially believed them, but authorities felt their behavior in the months following the deaths was out of character for someone dealing with such a tragedy. The biggest red flag for them was Lyle and Erik’s lavish spending, which amounted to about $700,000 of their parents’ fortune – the equivalent of $1 million today.
“By October 1989, Lyle had charged more than $90,000 to Jose’s American Express card,” Crime Library reports.
Lyle invested in a restaurant, while Erik hired a private tennis coach. The duo traveled, “bought Rolex watches and real estate and invested in businesses,” CBS News reported. The spending spree caught the attention of law enforcement but did not lead to their arrests.
Judalon Smyth, the girlfriend of Jerome Oziel, the brothers’ therapist, tipped off the police about Lyle and Erik’s involvement in the murder. Erik confessed to the crime to his psychologist – and it was recorded.
In March 1990, Lyle and Erik Menéndez were charged with murder. They spent three years in prison and the first trial began in 1993. The brothers were tried together, but there were separate juries that could not reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a mistrial.
In 1995, a second trial took place in which both Menéndez brothers were found guilty of premeditated murder.
Allegations of abuse
Lyle and Erik Menéndez murdered their parents. In court, the brothers never denied the crime, but focused on the reason for the murders. Their defense team claimed they had “suffered years of violent, repeated physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their father,” the LA Times reported.
The abuse allegations were not allowed at trial in the brothers’ second trial, and they were ultimately convicted of first-degree murder. Decades later, an investigative journalist named Robert Rand discovered a letter discussing Lyle and Erik’s abuse allegations, according to Newsweek.
Eight months before the murders, Erik had sent his deceased cousin Andy Cano a letter supporting the allegations.
“I’ve tried to avoid Dad,” the letter says. “Andy, this still happens, but for me it’s worse now. I can’t explain it. … Every night I stay awake thinking he might come in. I have to get this out of my head. I know what you said earlier, but I’m scared. You just don’t know Dad like I do. He’s crazy! He warned me a hundred times not to tell anyone.”
The letter was not used as evidence in any of the cases. Cano testified in court, but was called a liar by the prosecution.
Three decades later, a Peacock docuseries called Menéndez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed explored an unfortunate bond between the brothers and boy band member Roy Rosselló. According to Variety, Rosselló claims that José sexually abused him as a child.
How long are the Menéndez brothers serving in prison?
Lyle and Erik Menéndez are currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. The new evidence mentioned above gives the Menéndez camp new hope that a retrial could occur in the future.
One of her lawyers, Cliff Gardner, told CBS 48 Hours that the evidence in question “corroborates these long-standing allegations and mitigates her guilt.”
Gardner and his legal team maintain that the brothers’ crime was manslaughter rather than premeditated murder, which would have resulted in a shorter prison sentence.
“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story” premieres on Netflix on Thursday, September 19.
